The Kirchentag: everything you want to know!
This page will be updated with local material nearer the start of the Kirchentag
| How to register | About six months before the Kirchentag, it will be possible to register and pay on-line (see below). You will be able to access the Kirchentag website (www.kirchentag.de) and follow the link to the pages in English. Alternatively, you can contact Robin Blount to ask if there is a group registering in your area. The advantage of going with a group is that groups are usually accommodated near to the city, and sometimes can make block travel booking. |
| Cost | The Kirchentag is remarkably cheap! These were the 2007 costs: Individual registration was €79. The concession rate for pensioners, unwaged and students was €49. A Family pass cost €129 (parents with under-18s attending). The pass gets you into every one of the hundreds of events that take place, and on to the regional transport network (see below). |
| Payment | To pay over the Internet, go to http://www.kirchentag.de/payment and click on English. Then follow the on-screen instructions. MasterCard and VISA cards are acceptable.  Cash, cheques and Traveller's Cheques cannot be accepted by post. You can also pay on arrival at the Teilnehmerservice Ausland desk, which will be open from 0800 on the Tuesday morning at the Messegelände. Payment on arrival can be in cash (Euros only), VISA, MasterCard and ec-Card/Maestro-Karte. Your Programme pack (map, entrance & travel ticket, etc) will be sent out once you have settled your invoice or paid online. Packs are usually available about six weeks in advance. |
| Accommodation | Accommodation can be found with families in and near the city, on a cost-free Bed-&-Breakfast basis. This is the usual arrangement for particpants from the UK and the rest of the world. The cost of arranging this is €15, but the hosts do not receive any money. Accommodation will be available for you from Tuesday evening until Sunday midday, but it is nearly always possible to stay until the Monday morning if you arrange this with your hosts. It is worth arriving on the Tuesday, because this gives you 24-hours to find out where things are before the Kirchentag opens on Wednesday afternoon. If you are staying with a family, try to get in touch as soon as you receive their details, and think about taking small gifts for them. Hotels can be booked directly online via the special page www.hrs.de/kirchentag. For Youth Hostels, go to www.quartier@kirchentag.de |
| Travel | You will need to book your journey to and from the city with your local travel agent. Since many people take the opportunity to make a holiday break out of the Kirchentag, it is impossible to offer a travel service. However, there are usually some groups going from the UK and often there are spare seats. You may be able to find this out by ringing Robin Blount on 01303 250028 or by email at robin.blount[at]virgin.net. Travel around the city and the region is included in your registration fee, and your entry pass is valid on all buses, trams and trains within the regional transport network. |
| Meals | Normally you will enjoy breakfast with your hosts, so you will need to cater for yourselves at other times. There are numerous food outlets in the Messegelände (exhibition centre), and restaurants will be open all over the city for evening meals. You will need to have euros for all this; many restaurants will accept VISA, Mastercard and other plastic, but not all! Check before you sit down. Take some water with you every day. The Kirchentag can be exhausting, and a small bottle could save your life! |
| Programme | A few weeks before the Kirchentag, you will receive the programme book, a small book with some 400 events that take place during the Kirchentag. It is arranged by theme and by day, but it's all in German! However, and fortunately, Sheila Brain produces for English-speaking people an excellent summary of the main events and a lot of other useful information. Both these should be with you long before you start packing. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the Kirchentag. Some 150,000 people will be attending, and this means long queues at really popular events and early journeys to some of the more distant events. So it's important to plan your day carefully, to avoid exhaustion. My own programme has been to attend the bible study (there are some in English) and one of the main lectures in the morning, browse through the Marketplace in the afternoon, and in the evening to have a long lazy meal with friends or try to get to a concert. There are discussion groups, debates, visits, bands of all sorts (not just brass ones), theatre, and enough to keep you busy for a month. Pace yourself, and wear what's comfortable. With the programme comes a detailed map of the city, with all the venues clearly marked, and a song book for the worship. |
| Language | The Kirchentag is unmistakeably a German event, with years of excellent German organisation behind it! The great majority of people who attend are German or German-speaking, but there are many events in English or with simultaneous translation. You can arrange for your own personal interpreter! Go to the International Centre (where German people are not allowed unless invited!) and you will be able to arrange it. The skills of the interpreter range from the professional to the competent student (luck of the draw), and depending on the event, you will get either a whispered commentary, the highlights, or even a written summary as it happens. I've had all three of these. For an event with simultaneous translation, there will be headphones available at no cost, but you will have to leave some ID (passport, driving licence, etc). You'll be directed to a seating area within the range of the transmitters. (Don't be alarmed by long pauses from the interpreter; he or she will be waiting for the verb at the end of a sentence!) |
| Problems | Of course there won't be any problems! But just in case, Robin and Sheila will be hovering around the International Centre for much of the time, and you can always leave a message - the I.C. staff will all speak English (and probably several other languages as well!). If there's a real emergency, your hosts will be able to direct you to the nearest hospital or whatever. At the Exhibition Centre, there are hundreds of scouts wearing a (usually green) sash with the word Hilfer (helper); again, they will almost certainly speak enough English to point you in the right direction. |
| Phone home! | Just for the record, the international code for the U.K. is 0044 and omit the first 0 in the English number. There may be a special telephone code to dial first, in order to make an international call. |
| Useful hints - send me yours! | Adaptors: if you're going to take electrical items, take an international adaptor as well. A UK shaver or hair-dryer plug, for example, will not fit a continental socket. |
| Anything else? | If there are questions not covered above, please feel free to get in touch with either Robin or Sheila - our phone numbers are here. |
| Lastly,... | Enjoy the Kirchentag! We hope it will be a stimulating experience for you. |
